Archived: Avalon Care Home

Updated 3 November 2015

We carried out this inspection under Section 60 of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 as part of our regulatory functions. This inspection was planned to check whether the provider is meeting the legal requirements and regulations associated with the Health and Social Care Act 2008, to look at the overall quality of the service, and to provide a rating for the service under the Care Act 2014.

This inspection took place on 1 and 2 September 2015 and was unannounced.

The inspection team consisted of two inspectors, an Expert by Experience and a specialist nursing advisor with experience of dementia care. An Expert by Experience is a person who has personal experience of using or caring for someone who uses this type of service.

Before our inspection, we reviewed the information we held about the home, which included notifications they had sent to us. A notification is information about important events which the provider is required to send us by law.

We also contacted the commissioners of the service and Healthwatch Nottinghamshire to obtain their views about the care provided in the home.

During the inspection we observed care and spoke with 10 people who used the service, five visitors, an activities co-ordinator, two domestic staff, one nurse, three care staff, the deputy manager and two regional managers. We looked at the relevant parts of the care records of eight people, the recruitment records of three staff and other records relating to the management of the home.

We used the Short Observational Framework for Inspection (SOFI). SOFI is a way of observing care to help us understand the experience of people who could not talk with us.

Updated 3 November 2015

This inspection took place on 1 and 2 September 2015 and was unannounced.

Accommodation for up to 40 people is provided in the home over two floors. The service is designed to meet the needs of older people. There were 36 people using the service at the time of our inspection.

At the previous inspection on 21 and 22 October 2014, we asked the provider to take action to make improvements to the areas of care and welfare of people who use services, assessing and monitoring the quality of service provision, management of medicines and supporting workers. We received an action plan in which the provider told us the actions they had taken to meet the relevant legal requirements. At this inspection we found that improvements had been made in all of these areas, though further work was still required in the area of care and welfare of people who use services, specifically activities offered to people and the content of care records.

There is a registered manager but she was not available during the inspection. The deputy manager was available during the inspection. A registered manager is a person who has registered with the Care Quality Commission to manage the service. Like registered providers, they are ‘registered persons’. Registered persons have legal responsibility for meeting the requirements in the Health and Social Care Act 2008 and associated Regulations about how the service is run.

People felt safe in the home and staff knew how to identify potential signs of abuse. Systems were in place for staff to identify and manage risks and respond to accidents and incidents. The premises were managed to keep people safe. Sufficient staff were on duty to meet people’s needs and they were recruited through safe recruitment practices. Safe medicines and infection control practices were followed.

Staff received appropriate induction, training and supervision. People’s rights were protected under the Mental Capacity Act 2005. People received sufficient to eat and drink. External professionals were involved in people’s care as appropriate. However, the environment required further adaptation to help to meet people’s needs and promote their independence.

Staff were caring and treated people with dignity and respect. People and their relatives were involved in decisions about their care.

Care records did not always provide clear guidance for staff to respond to people’s needs. Activities available for people in the home required improvement. A complaints process was in place and staff knew how to respond to complaints.

People and their relatives were involved or had opportunities to be involved in the development of the service. Staff told us they would be confident raising any concerns with the management and that the registered manager would take action. There were systems in place to monitor and improve the quality of the service provided.